I have an uncle who meditates regularly. He has my whole life so that now, it’s just a part of who he is rather than something he does. It’s just my Uncle Mac. Once I asked him about his practice, and he told me that Meditation gives his body what he needs in that moment. If he’s tired, then he’s able to find rest, sleep even. If his body needs energizing, then he finds himself with power at the end of his sessions. No matter what his body needs, meditation delivers.
This week has been brutal already. It’s not just one or two or five things. Right now, it feels like everything. So I’m turing to yoga to return to me some things that I need, somethings that have been stripped from me. I am looking to yoga as an opportunity to replenish and restart means that I’m finding more and more while I’m on my mat.
Here are some things that I’ve gladly found on my yoga mat.
- Personal Space | I’m a mom, and I feel like some days my children are quite literally connected to my hip, or lap, or neck, or hands. Like we’re very mobile Siamese twins. But when I’m on my mat, I have those 71 by 26 inches to myself, to spread out, to be comfortable, to move my body. There’s nothing under my feet except for mat and earth, and I have needed that.
- Quiet | I don’t mean from noise, I mean more a respite from my own thoughts. When I can really plug into my practice, then I can truly unwind from my own stressful moments, my own spinning brains, the crazy that only I can hear. It gets quiet, and there’s just me, my breath, and my physical body that moves in something of a routine.
- Strength | I sometimes don’t think I can. I don’t think I can do a full hour of yoga. I don’t think I can make it past the warm up. I don’t think I can reach my toes today. But then I do. And I finish feeling stronger. I need that right now.
- Love | I smile on my mat, and you want to know why? Because I love being there. I love myself while I’m there. I love the people next to me and my instructor. Kathy commented earlier in these 30 Days to say that yoga is “cooperative.” Not to sound too cheesy, but I think that perpetuates the love.
- Slowness | One thing I desperately need is to slow down. There’s so much to do and not enough time to do it. I fly through my days, hardly stopping for a breath. But yoga makes me slow, makes me be still, makes me breathe. And it gives me hope that if I can slow on my mat, then I can slow off it too.
What have you found on your mat?
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